


only a salt kiss remains

by FlibbertiGiblet



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), The Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Disney Fusion, Basically I'm Disney trash, Cause Sansa's a Tully as well as a Stark, F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings, Join Me, Light Angst, Mermaids, Romance, plus she has red hair, so it was obvious really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 03:50:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12203313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlibbertiGiblet/pseuds/FlibbertiGiblet
Summary: He was drowning, and then he was not.(He hears her before he sees her, his angel.)





	only a salt kiss remains

**Author's Note:**

> Only a salt kiss remains of the drowned arm,  
> that lifts a spray: a humid scent,  
> of the damp flower, is left,  
> from the bodies of men.
> 
> \--Pablo Neruda, _The Wide Ocean._

His limbs feel leaden, uncooperative. He kicks out his legs with weary determination, compels his arms to push through the water. It is cold – wickedly, unbearably cold; the waves unrelenting in their fury.

Eyes burning from the salt, he forces them open in order to see. Briny water rushes up his nostrils, into his ears, and he struggles not to gasp for air. He clamps his mouth shut, keeps his lips pressed tight with teeth that tear into his skin from the effort to keep them closed. His chest pounds with an unfathomable pressure, an exquisite pain.

He uses what strength he has left to battle the unforgiving swells that would drag him beneath the surface, but he knows it is a fight he cannot win. Already his body betrays him, lips parting against his will even as his throat works helplessly to swallow what air he had left for his lungs. His muscles seize up. He starts to sink.

Above him he can see the last, sorry remains of his ship begin their slow descent into the dark water. He hopes the other passengers survived. It's a rotten sort of birthday, this. An unwanted end just as he was celebrating life. (He would laugh at the irony if he had the air to do so.) But the agonizing breathlessness is ever constant, and his vision is dimming, his mind starting to go blessedly blank. The water no longer seems so cold, he realizes distantly; he feels almost pleasantly numb. 

_Surely it would not be as bad as all that to inhale now. Surely it would be for the best…_

He sees a flash of red from the corner of his eyes, right before he closes them in surrender.

So this is what dying feels like – a lover’s warm embrace, a rush of motion.

Noises, sounds, and sweet airs.

**Author's Note:**

> You'd think I would have been listening to the Little Mermaid soundtrack to get into the proper mindset for this story, but I actually had Bon Iver's _Blindsided_ on repeat so that was probably a bigger influence on the fic's tone (and chapter title). I also used a line from Shakespeare’s _Tempest_ – “Noises, sounds and sweet airs” - 'cause you can't really go wrong with borrowing from the Bard.
> 
> \---
> 
> This may or may not be the first of a series of Thrones one-shots based off of Disney AUs. I'm working on a couple of ideas right now, but let's see if my muse decides to be kind and stick around for a little while longer.


End file.
